The invention relates to a method for stitching print products with a wire-stitching machine that comprises at least one stitching head and moves during the stitching operation along with a print product which is conveyed in a gathering and wire-stitching apparatus.
The wire-stitching of print products with the aid of staples in a gathering and wire-stitching apparatus has long been known and involves, for example, the stitching together of booklets consisting of several gathered, folded sheets in a wire-stitching machine. The products are generally transported by a gathering chain, provided with uniformly spaced carriers, in which the aforementioned folded sheets are gathered. The gathering chain conveys the gathered, folded sheets to the wire-stitching machine where the print products are wire stitched while in a stationary position or during the transport.
A method and machine of the aforementioned type for wire-stitching print products are known, for example, from European Application EP 0 958 942 A, which is co-owned by the assignee of the present application. This machine is provided with two stitching heads that are operated by a crank mechanism. The two stitching heads are positioned on a stitching-head carriage which moves along with the product to be stitched. If a product is to be stitched with three wire staples, then three stitching heads are needed and for the stitching with four wire staples, four stitching heads are needed.
A different type of stitching machine is further known from European Application EP 1 153 764 A.